THE NIGERIAN LEFT IN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY: REFORM OR REVOLUTION:---

THE NIGERIAN LEFT IN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY: REFORM OR REVOLUTION: SOME THOUGHTS FOR RESEARCH

Dictatorship and repression has characterised the recent history of Nigerian politics. As a result of the current economic crisis and the growing radical ideas as an alternative, Nigerian ruling-class has become desperate searching for the best political arrangement to contain the left apostles.

Ibrahim Bdamasi Babangida obtained a workable equation. The economic rehabilitation programme of the state – the IMF/World Bank Structural Adjustment Programme put some economic constraints on the capacity of radicals to operate, there are also lot of political constraints.

While blocking any avenue of attaining a democratic polity, the Government dissolved all political associations formed as political parties including the Nigerian Labour Party which contains all shades of Nigerian Left, and floated two political parties – Nigerian Republican Convention and social Democratic Party, “a little to the right and a little to the left”.

Nigerian Left became divided on whether to join the “a little to the left” party or not. Four Nigeria’s left formations joined it and claimed that can turn the party to serve the interest of workers. Others refused, because the entire political arrangement cannot guarantee development in the interest of the working people.

The questions now are: what will be the future political tendency of the left in social/democratic party? What do they hope to accomplish and how? What will be the immediate and long-term agenda of the left not in social democratic party? In case the state evolves a multi-party arrangement after the present experience, what will be the political stand of the left in the social democratic part and the left not in the party?

This paper will project what will likely be the development. In the absence of organised, disciplined and united left, the state may succeed in causing more fragmentations of the left. Although in any revolution, there must be differences of ideas, but if the left is not united to a common principled position, it will not be in the interest of the revolution.

The paper is composed of six sections. Section one is an introduction with some theoretical positions on Democracy and Revolution. Section two treats transition to civil rule and Democracy in Nigeria. Section three is about Nigerian left and the transition to civil rule. Section four deals with the left in Social Democratic Party. Section five will attempt to highlight future political tendencies and political options of the left in social democratic party. Section six is the conclusion.

Mu’azu Mohammed Yusif
Department of Political Science
Bayero University, Kano
December, 1991